Light is Not Good
by BloodRavenFan
Summary: A thousand years ago, the warriors of light were forced into the shadows. Now they return...destruction or rebirth, what shall be the fate they bring?


Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, and any copyrighted material used in this work. This is a fanfic, period. Everything belongs to their respective owners. Comments and constructive criticism are all very much appreciated.

Stern Ritter 'S'

"_After nine hundred years the King will regain his heart…_

…_after ninety years he will regain his intellect…_

…_after nine years he will regain his power…_

…_and he will regain the world in nine days."_

* * *

Aoi Tohsaka was dead. No one knew how it happened, it just did. One day barely a month ago, on a bright morning just like any other, she just collapsed unconscious. She never woke up again. The doctors were baffled, physically there was nothing wrong about her, and yet there she lay on her bed, wasting away. The Spiritual Doctors of the Magi offered a cause – her life force had been inexplicably drained and what was left was not enough to support her – yet could not give Tokiomi a solution. The Holy Church was suspiciously evasive, as no less than an Archbishop had explicitly commanded that none of their own would interfere. Tokiomi suspected he had been used as bait by some other Magus or a Vampire to against the Holy Church, and that the Holy Church intended to sacrifice his wife to foil their enemies.

It didn't matter; he was a Magus, and he had since learned to sacrifice any and all attachments in the grand pursuit of the Root. Even now he sought to educate his elder daughter and heiress in the ways of the Magi, while about to give his younger daughter a chance to do likewise under a different family. While he had no love for the Matou, they were an old ally, and believed it for the best if Sakura would be adopted as Zouken's heiress. Only then would his blood's legacy be properly fulfilled, even if it meant a future confrontation between the two sisters. Again, it didn't matter – such was the way of the Magi, the way that led to the Root, the way that led to transcendence over the common rabble of Humanity.

Standing there at the gates to his property holding his younger daughter's hand and Kirei standing like a shadow behind him, Tokiomi momentarily wondered if he was being too cold and cruel…only to decide against that thought. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and such considerations – good and evil, right and wrong – were ultimately meaningless for Magi. He was merely doing what was expected from a proper Magus, and he expected the same from his daughters in the future.

A flicker of movement caught his attention, and he glanced to the side, and spotted a pair of figures standing in the shadow of a tree, hooded and cloaked in white, though one had his hood down, exposing a young man with long blonde hair and wearing a cold and determined expression of his face.

"Greetings, I am Jugram Haschwalth, Stern Ritter 'B', Grand Master of the Stern Ritter and Adviser to His Majesty the Emperor." Haschwalth introduced himself, raising an eyebrow at the sight of what appeared to be a priest taking a protective stance before the Tohsaka Magus before walking slowly and deliberately towards the man and his daughter. "Your children have taken His Majesty's interest, and as such His Majesty has commanded me to claim the least impure among them. Surrender now and we can avoid any unpleasant business."

In response, the priest leapt forward to attack, Black Keys held expertly between the young man's fingers. He was fast, enough to counter a Dead Apostle…but not nearly fast enough. Haschwalth kept walking, holding his sword in a low guard one-handed, leaving a bloody corpse lying on the ground behind him. "Fool…" he said chidingly. "…do you not know who we are? Treachery of any form will not be tolerated."

"I don't know who you are but…!" Tokiomi began to say, letting go of Sakura who stepped back only to stumble in fear as her father angrily raised his staff and began to cast a spell…only to fall to his knees crying out in pain and holding the bleeding stump of his right arm.

"Ah, wonderful…" Haschwalth noted, his eyes not leaving the bleeding Magus before him. "…can you not see the scales tipped in favour of your life? I am the Stern Ritter 'B', the Balance. As such, I shall spare your life for now."

Turning to Sakura, the terrified girl staggered to her feet and began to run towards the house, but Haschwalth managed to firmly but gently grab an arm. "Come child…" he gently told her. "…your destiny awaits you. And it is far greater than you can imagine, you who are among the few to survive His Majesty's Holy Selection. Such power and potential cannot be wasted, and must be carefully cultivated to reach its peak. Don't you feel honoured?"

"I don't want to…you…!" she said desperately, trying to pull her arm free. Without blinking an eyelid, Haschwalth passed a hand over her eyes, gently putting her to sleep with his spiritual pressure. Picking her up and carrying her over to where his fellow Stern Ritter waited, he was about to return to Wandenreich when Tokiomi spoke up.

"Wait…! Where are you taking her?"

"Where she belongs, and it is of no concern to you. If it is any comfort to you, she will not fall in the coming storm, although I cannot say the same for you or the rest of your kind. Farewell, Magus…"

* * *

_Ten years later…_

"Hold your crosses high!" the assembled Stern Ritter shouted, their boots striking hard on the ground in a synchronized step, Quincy crosses held high in salute. "To His Majesty the Emperor Juha Bach, Stern Ritter salute!"

"My Stern Ritter…" the Emperor greeted his mightiest warriors standing before him. "…prepare to welcome another of your own."

At that moment, a single feminine figure began to walk down the centre aisle between the assembled Stern Ritter. The young woman wore the standard Wandenreich uniform along with the hood and cloak of the Stern Ritter, but unlike the other Stern Ritter, she wore her hood over head in humble anticipation of her promotion. Kneeling before the Emperor's podium, she said "I exist to serve."

"Well said, my daughter…" the Emperor acknowledged her. "…rise Stern Ritter 'S', the Sharpshooter, Sakura Tohsaka."

"Heil Juha Bach!" the assembled Stern Ritter roared in acknowledgement, even as Letter S lowered her hood and took her place among them, giving a smile in passing response to a congratulatory nod also given in passing by Letter E. "Heil Scharfschütze! Sieg Wandenreich!"


End file.
